The business
Hothouse Fiction www.hothousefiction.com specialises in the development and exploitation of intellectual property by creating book series. From the seed of an original idea, Hothouse develops characters, settings and plots, and then collaborates with talented writers to create written samples which it researches and develops further before commissioning the first book in the series. Hothouse retains all copyright in the series. The book publishing rights are licensed to international publishing companies leaving Hothouse able to exploit the TV, film, and merchandising rights. Hothouse’s focus on reader research and excellence of writing has already lead to children’s fiction award nominations.
The business was founded in 2007 by Richard Maskell and Reg Wright. Hothouse’s emphasis on reader research comes from their experience in the partwork publishing industry where quantitative consumer research has always been central to the product development process.
Richard Maskell commented, “Before we launched Hothouse, we explored whether qualitative research techniques could be applied to publishing to help define and focus fiction ideas. Parts of that approach have worked well and ensure that the publisher can be much more confident that the series will be a success’.
James Arnold-Baker, Non-Executive Chairman, is a former Chief Executive of both the Oxford University Press and BBC Worldwide.
The funding
CCF has invested £130,000 alongside £140,000 from business angels to allow the business to accelerate its IP development. In addition CCF has made available a further £150.000 in the form of a convertible loan note.